Minister confronted on land clearing

Tim King speaks with NSW Environment Minister Verity Firth about the diversion of $3.5 million promised by Premier Iemma to reduce illegal land clearing. June 2008

NSW Minister for the Environment, Verity Firth, spoke today with NSW Campaign Manager, Timothy King, at a land clearing protest organised by the Sydney Campaign Centre.

The Wilderness Society was protesting about the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) stealing $3.5 million promised by Premier Iemma to crack down on illegal land clearing. The funding was provided last year to expand satellite monitoring but has been diverted to fund other programs.

Land clearing is still an enormous problem in NSW and creates greenhouse gas pollution, causes salinity, destroys rivers and kills wildlife.

In 2006 the Premier committed an additional $3.5 million every year to extend satellite monitoring to end broadscale land clearing. Satellite monitoring is the only effective way of tracking the extent and location of illegal land clearing.

The commitment of funding was reiterated by Minister Firth last week when said $3.5 million was in the budget ‘for high resolution satellite imagery to help stamp out illegal clearing’.

However TWS has uncovered that DECC has decided to ignore the Premier’s commitment and simply spend the money elsewhere.

The Minister was confronted with the protest by TWS outside an event she was hosting for environment groups in the Botanical Gardens.